Contents
- Lifestyle related illnesses and hypertension
- Cancer
- Mental health
- Immunisation
- Maternity services
- Children and young people
- Rough sleepers and homeless community members
- Introduction to the Roma health guide
- Barriers to healthcare for the Roma community
- System barriers
- Language barriers and communication
- Cultural barriers - Common health problems and vulnerable groups:
- Lifestyle related illnesses and hypertension
- Cancer
- Mental health
- Immunisation
- Maternity services
- Children and young people
- Rough sleepers and homeless community members
Children and young people
Roma children’s health [1] [2] is commonly affected across Europe by child poverty, substandard living conditions and lack of healthy nutrition. Some barriers to children accessing healthcare in the UK are due to parents being unfamiliar with the health system, or having difficulty registering with a GP. Other barriers are due to a lack of basic information, particularly about general health and nutrition. The community language Romanes lacks the concept of a “healthy balanced diet”, and many people are unaware of the connection between consuming fast food or sugar and fizzy drinks to weight gain, or the effect of poor dental care on caries and general health.
There are also misconceptions in the community around the symptoms and types of treatment available for some conditions, often due to lack of access to information and differences in medical care practices between the UK and patients’ country of origin. Parents may not understand their child’s condition or be unaware of the symptoms, and in some cases delay seeking help from medical professionals. Some may expect that every condition will be treated with medication - one family supported by RSG assumed their child’s autism would be cured with a prescription.
There is a stigma [3] in traditional Roma culture around physical disability or mental disorders, which assumes the condition to be inherited in the family. This may prevent or delay some of the more traditional Roma parents in seeking help for a disabled child, trying instead to hide the child’s condition from the community. In some of the Roma community’s countries of origin, a fairly common practice [4] has been misdiagnosing Roma children as having learning difficulties [5] or mental health problems, often based on assessments carried out in the child’s second language. This has encouraged distrust towards health professionals in general and mental health professionals in particular. Some may be unwilling to seek help for a child’s mental health problems or take up support offered, because they fear their child will be taken into care.
Drug use among children and young people
Drug use remains a taboo and unexplored subject for some Roma people, particularly the older generation. There is some evidence that drug dependence has been increasing among vulnerable young people in some Roma communities, making them vulnerable to multiple forms of exploitation. A 2010 study [6] showed young Roma people were often unaware of the effects or habit-forming properties of particular drugs, and older Roma were unaware of issues related to drugs or did not notice signs of drug use. Despite this, there is currently no drug treatment information tailored to the Roma community.
Drug use among women is regarded as particularly shameful, and families with a young woman in this situation will be less likely to ask for help, although anecdotal evidence points to increased drug use among both girls and boys.
Recommendations:
For recommendations on child vaccinations, please refer to the section on immunisation.
There are also misconceptions in the community around the symptoms and types of treatment available for some conditions, often due to lack of access to information and differences in medical care practices between the UK and patients’ country of origin. Parents may not understand their child’s condition or be unaware of the symptoms, and in some cases delay seeking help from medical professionals. Some may expect that every condition will be treated with medication - one family supported by RSG assumed their child’s autism would be cured with a prescription.
There is a stigma [3] in traditional Roma culture around physical disability or mental disorders, which assumes the condition to be inherited in the family. This may prevent or delay some of the more traditional Roma parents in seeking help for a disabled child, trying instead to hide the child’s condition from the community. In some of the Roma community’s countries of origin, a fairly common practice [4] has been misdiagnosing Roma children as having learning difficulties [5] or mental health problems, often based on assessments carried out in the child’s second language. This has encouraged distrust towards health professionals in general and mental health professionals in particular. Some may be unwilling to seek help for a child’s mental health problems or take up support offered, because they fear their child will be taken into care.
Drug use among children and young people
Drug use remains a taboo and unexplored subject for some Roma people, particularly the older generation. There is some evidence that drug dependence has been increasing among vulnerable young people in some Roma communities, making them vulnerable to multiple forms of exploitation. A 2010 study [6] showed young Roma people were often unaware of the effects or habit-forming properties of particular drugs, and older Roma were unaware of issues related to drugs or did not notice signs of drug use. Despite this, there is currently no drug treatment information tailored to the Roma community.
Drug use among women is regarded as particularly shameful, and families with a young woman in this situation will be less likely to ask for help, although anecdotal evidence points to increased drug use among both girls and boys.
Recommendations:
- Do not assume Roma parents will know about or be able to access the public health messaging common in the UK on eating a balanced diet and dental care, particularly the most disadvantaged community members.
- Work with community organisations, GPs, school nurses, health workers to improve general public health awareness (eg. using visual methods of communication or practical workshops on child health, dental health, nutrition and adapting traditional Roma recipes to a modern diet).
- Provide training for health visitors and school nurses on Roma culture and common barriers to healthcare.
- Work with schools, GPs, social workers and support workers on ensuring routine health checkups for Roma children.
- Work with community organisations to improve awareness of the signs of drug use in young people and increase support, particularly for female drug users.
For recommendations on child vaccinations, please refer to the section on immunisation.
[1] (EU MIDIS II: 80% of Roma in Europe live under the poverty-risk income threshold for their countries)
[2] Figures from 2016.
[3] p. 28, NHS Barking and Dagenham: Health and Social Care Needs Assessment of Eastern European (including Roma) individuals living in Barking and Dagenham (2010)
[4] p. 29, NHS Barking and Dagenham: Health and Social Care Needs Assessment of Eastern European (including Roma) individuals living in Barking and Dagenham (2010)
[5] Amnesty International/EERC: Slovakia: Unlawful ethnic segregation in schools is failing Romani children (2017)
[6] Rosie Winyard, Dada Felja: Children Of Roma - Druglink Vol 25, Issue 6 (2010)
[2] Figures from 2016.
[3] p. 28, NHS Barking and Dagenham: Health and Social Care Needs Assessment of Eastern European (including Roma) individuals living in Barking and Dagenham (2010)
[4] p. 29, NHS Barking and Dagenham: Health and Social Care Needs Assessment of Eastern European (including Roma) individuals living in Barking and Dagenham (2010)
[5] Amnesty International/EERC: Slovakia: Unlawful ethnic segregation in schools is failing Romani children (2017)
[6] Rosie Winyard, Dada Felja: Children Of Roma - Druglink Vol 25, Issue 6 (2010)